To win in world’s ‘first republic’, RJD wagers on eroding NDA’s Bhumihar base

It is believed to be the first republic in the world that holds a lot of importance for both Buddhists and Jains. Now Vaishali is in the middle of a hard-fought electoral battle between a strongman politician fielded by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the sitting MP from the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) whose husband is an influential local leader said to be close to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Vaishali — dominated by Yadavs, Rajputs and Bhumihars, followed by Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) and Scheduled Castes (SCs) — votes on Saturday. The constituency has been known for upending the caste table of political players, with the RJD’s Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, an upper-caste Rajput, and not someone from its core Muslim-Yadav constituency representing the seat five times from 1996 to 2009. Much of that had to do with the popularity of Singh, who was known as the MNREGA man of Bihar, credited with the construction of rural roads during the rule of the UPA government. Singh, who died in 2020, lost the elections in 2014 and 2019.

Of the 18.65 lakh voters in Vaishali, there are an estimated 2.5 lakh Bhumihars, 2 lakh Rajputs, Yadavs and SC-STs each, 1,25 lakh Muslims, 1.65 lakh OBC Kushwahas, and 1.25 lakh EBC Mallahs, among others.

This election, the RJD has fielded Independent MLA Vijay Kumar Shukla, popularly known as Munna Shukla, an upper caste Bhumihar to create fissures in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) traditional vote bank. Shukla and his family have dominated the politics in Vaishali, particularly in Lalganj, for two decades. The 55-year-old, the RJD’s last-minute choice in the constituency, has been directly addressing his community on the hustings.

“It has been enough of slogans, inflation,